Jie Zhang, Xuelin Yao, Yijing Chen, Qing Feng, Yi Zhang, Tian Jiang, Songtao Tang, Nan Zhang, Fang Dai, Honglin Hu, Qiu Zhang

Department of Endocrinology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Qiu Zhang; Honglin Hu, Department of Endocrinology, First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, 218 Jixi Road, Hefei, Shushan District, 230032, People’s Republic of China, Email zhangqiu@ahmu.edu.cn; huhonglin@ahmu.edu.cn

Background: Diabetes mellitus and hypertension often coexist and share common risk factors. This study investigated the correlation between glycemic management and the prevalence of hypertension among Chinese adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods: This study included 1715 patients with T2DM from four cities in Anhui Province, China. Sociodemographic characteristics of the sample participants were collected via questionnaires. A univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized for continuous variables, and chi-square testing was used for categorical variables. Binary logistic regression was utilized to examine the relationship between blood pressure and variables including fasting plasma glucose (FPG), glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), physical activity, dyslipidemia, and family history of hypertension.
Results: FPG levels did not increase the risk of hypertension, while HbA1c was significantly and negatively associated with hypertension risk. HbA1c levels ranged from 7.2 to 8.6%, with odds ratios (OR) of 0.68 and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of 0.48 to 0.97 and a significant p value of less than 0.05. For the HbA1c levels above 8.6%, the OR was 0.58 with a 95% CI of 0.39 to 0.87 and a significant p value of less than 0.01. Furthermore, advanced age, higher BMI, greater waist circumference, presence of dyslipidemia, and positive family history of hypertension were all found to be significantly and independently linked to a heightened risk of developing hypertension. These associations remain significant after further adjustment.
Conclusion: There was a negative association between HbA1c and the risk of hypertension, and the association remained significant after adjustment for antihypertensive drug use.

Keywords: FPG, HbA1c, T2DM, hypertension